1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to magazines for use in photography to contain and facilitate the handling of a plurality of film cartridges.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a typical photofinishing operation, film rolls are accumulated, sorted and removed from their containing cartridges for processing. The cartridges are cracked open to release the film, and discarded at a very early stage in the operation. During their short life the cartridges are handled in bins, totes and conveyers for isolating batches of film according to the required processing parameters.
Although the film cartridge often does not last long in a processing facility, cartridge magazines have been employed to facilitate their handling. Gudmundson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,707, issued Jul. 16, 1991, discloses one example that includes a film magazine for maintaining sorted film in transportable batches. Their magazine is a rectangular tube open at one end with a slot along one side.
Photographic processes have been proposed in which the film is retained in its cartridge throughout the processing operation, or is returned to a similar cartridge after film processing. The cartridges typically are handled by conveyers, or, again, in rectangular tubes. One approach is presented in Takahashi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,231,439, issued Jul. 27, 1993. Takahasi et al. use rectangular tubes, including escape mechanisms, for containing and dispensing the film cartridges.
Of course photographic slides have been handled in carousel magazines for many years. A similar approach is presented in Yamaguchi et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,023, issued Mar. 28, 1989. They disclose a cylindrical magazine for handling photographic slides in a printing operation.